by: Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado
As a feline behavior consultant, I am always looking for ways to improve the effectiveness of the services I provide to my clients and increase the likelihood that they will follow the advice I give them. This is an ongoing battle, as the urge to give cat owners information about EVERYTHING they need to know about cats can be quite strong. When I first started consulting, I provided my clients with 10-page written plans, expecting them to read every word and follow every last instruction. I became more and more disappointed when I followed up and learned that instead of educating them, I had completely overwhelmed them.
Before you can give advice to people, they have to research it! Many people report that their cat exhibits unwanted behaviors, but many choose to live with these issues, believing that cats cannot be trained. Others may instead choose to rehome their cat, and some cats certainly lose their homes and their lives due to behavioral issues. Humans seem more motivated to seek help if the problem behavior is perceived as annoying or dangerous (eg, aggressive behavior toward humans or other pets, soiling of the house).
![](http://whatyourcatwants.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/cat-behavior-consulting.jpg)
Some people may seek help from a veterinarian, veterinary behaviorist, or behavior professional to try to resolve their cat’s behavior problem. Unfortunately, research has shown that compliance with behavioral recommendations is generally low (Note: this is not unique to behavioral advice! It turns out that people don’t follow their doctor’s or lawyer’s advice either) .
Environmental modification is one of the most common recommendations for solving behavioral problems in cats, mainly because humans often make a few mistakes when furnishing their homes with cats:
- Not having enough resources to support the number of cats they have
- Group all resources into one area (e.g. all litter boxes or food dishes together, or food near the litter box, etc.)
- Not using resources that cats will like (e.g., large enough litter boxes and scratching posts, not using soft, clumping litter)
- Not providing a cat with enough safe spaces and vertical space
Even after being educated about the environmental needs of cats, not all cat owners make the change. For what?
New search (How Chat Behavior Advisors Can Improve Clients’ Willingness to Adopt Their Advice: An Investigation of Advice Seriousness, Advisor Credibility, and Clients’ Personal Identity) explored some of the reasons why people might or might not follow behavioral advice, through an interesting survey design. Participants (703 cat guardians) completed a survey in which they were presented with a scenario in which they would receive advice on cat behavior.
The advice could come from someone less credible (a neighbor with cats) or very credible (a feline behavior consultant with a scientific background).
The advice could be benign (meaning only a few changes were recommended, including providing a scratching post, cleaning the box, and playing with the cat daily) or severe (including providing scratching posts in each room, adding three litter boxes scooped twice daily, adding vertical space, and separating food dishes).
Each participant received a scenario with one of the possible combinations:
- less credible advisor – gentle advice
- credible advisor – gentle advice
- less credible advisor – harsh advice
- credible advisor-stern advice
Participants were asked how they felt about following the advice, how likely other cat sitters would be to follow the advice, how difficult it would be to follow the advice, and how likely they would be to follow the advice given. They were also asked how much they identified as cat sitters. They were also asked how credible they found the counselor and how extreme they thought the behavior counseling was. Finally, they were asked a few questions about how they set up resources for their own cats and whether their cats had behavioral issues.
People are more likely to follow recommendations if they come from a highly credible advisor. They were also more likely to follow the gentle advice than the harsh advice. People who strongly identified as cat guardians were also more likely to comply with the advice; and they were more likely to think that other cat owners would do the same, suggesting some “social pressure” to be a good cat owner.
Although this is a scenario that does not perfectly predict what people will do in real life, it does give us some interesting food for thought on how we approach consulting and helping people. who have behavioral problems with their cats. The study authors also provided some helpful tips (in bold below).
Previous studies have shown that cat owners were less likely to prepare food and water according to recommendations (e.g. separate food areas, food in quiet places) or to clean the litter box at the recommended frequency , but they reported playing and petting regularly. their cats. Some aspects of care are either easier or more rewarding for cat owners.
![](http://whatyourcatwants.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/cat-gf24247f98_640.jpg)
To this end, cat owners are more likely to follow the advice if it doesn’t seem too “harsh”. People may only be willing to make certain changes, or not make changes if given too many suggestions. Dog owners who sought professional help to treat their dog’s separation anxiety had more success if they had fewer than five things to do. Behavioral consultants should be careful to start with simple and achievable goals for their clients, perhaps increasing the “demand” once their clients are on board.
Behavior consultants must be credible: ensure they have received appropriate training or certification and have other “signals” indicating their professionalism, such as being part of professional organizations, working under a mentor, listing credentials on their website and behave in a professional manner during consultations. Strong communication skills are essential.
Use social pressure: Client testimonials and examples of clients implementing behavioral advice can increase social pressure. However, the examples should be relevant and not seem too extreme.
The tricky part is that sometimes, as a consultant, you feel like a hot approach is needed. Sometimes there are so many things to take care of that it’s hard not to make a list. However, it may actually be more effective to start with a few small wins rather than trying to get an owner to change everything… in which case they may actually react by doing nothing.
Resources
Alho, A.M., Pontes, J. and Pomba, C. (2016). Knowledge of keepers and breeding practices in terms of enrichment of the feline environment. Journal of science applied to animal welfare, 19(2), 115-125.
Takeuchi, Y., Houpt, KA and Scarlett, JM (2000). Evaluation of treatments for separation anxiety in dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 217(3), 342-345.
van Leeuwen, E., Ter Mors, E. and Stolting, M. (2022). How Chat Behavior Advisors Can Improve Clients’ Willingness to Adopt Their Advice: A Survey of Advice Seriousness, Advisor Credibility, and Clients’ Personal Identity. Journal of Sciences Applied to Animal Welfare1-15.